


Sleep Tight

by hoddypeak



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Hopeful Ending, Season 3, Winnie who, a small dose of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 23:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20956673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoddypeak/pseuds/hoddypeak
Summary: Anne is very tired after the second part of her quest. She uses Gilbert's shoulder as a pillow.Gilbert isn't complaining.SEASON 3 SPOILERS





	Sleep Tight

**Author's Note:**

> aaand I'm back with another one-shot about these cuties. my head is full of ideas for Shirbert fics and they're just waiting to be released from their prison that is my brain.

Anne had accompanied Gilbert on the train to Charlottetown again. Since the journey never took that long, they didn’t have time to talk properly, but Gilbert could tell Anne had been nervous before jumping off the train. He still didn’t know what her mission was, and although he wanted nothing more than to know, he didn’t dare to ask – if the quest was enough to make Anne sit on the edge of her seat on the train, it had to be something important and something she would tell Gilbert only if she wanted to. Even though the death of Mary had definitely brought them closer together, it didn’t mean he had the right to expect Anne to pour her heart out to him, no matter how wordy she was and how easy it was to make her talk.

Whatever the quest was, Gilbert hoped with all his heart that she would succeed. It seemed important to her, and at the end of the day, the thing that mattered to him the most was Anne’s happiness.

Gilbert couldn’t consider his day in Charlottetown one of his top favourite days ever. His mind didn’t let him concentrate on his mentor’s words, and when he finally woke up from his daydreaming, he concentrated too hard on paying attention that in the end, he didn’t understand a single word that was said to him. When the doctor was kind enough to let him take a look at one of his patients to test his knowledge, his mind had been blank. Gilbert had been able to see the disappointment in his mentor’s eyes because they perfectly reflected the emotions he had felt because of his failure. He had then blamed his inattentiveness on lack of sleep, although the reason was totally different.

He had long time ago come to terms with the fact that Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was the person occupying his head most of the time, but he couldn’t help feeling that injustice had taken place every time a mere memory of her was enough to distract him from his medical mentoring, and he wasn’t too excited about the fact that one hand wasn’t enough to count the number of times that had happened.

Even though Anne’s mission was none of his business, he couldn’t fight the curiosity that built up inside him. What if it was something he could’ve helped her with? Anne surely knew she could always trust him with anything, he thought he had made that quite clear in these past years. Or had he? He often thought he couldn’t make his crush on Anne any more obvious, but it was like she took no notice of it. So this could be another one of those cases where he and Anne were not on the same page. Not even in the same chapter. Or book. Anything was possible when it came to the mystery that was the red-headed, fiery-tempered girl from Green Gables.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Gilbert’s lips at the image of Anne that flashed in his mind.

Gilbert had found his way onto the train before Anne had. He took a seat by the window and looked outside at the people that were walking on the platform, some of them were in a rush, others took their time in saying good-byes to their loved ones that were about to hop on the train. His eyes scanned through the masses of people until his eyes found a familiar girl. She was face-to-face with Cole, listening to him talk, their hands intertwined. Cole was apparently trying to cheer her up because there was a small smile on Anne’s lips that didn’t look authentic, and you could count on Gilbert and his observant mind to know when her smile was real and when faked. Her real smile made her entire being gleam like the sun, while her fake one just embellished her features without radiating any warmth. 

She was upset by something, so that had to mean her quest had been unsuccessful. Gilbert felt sad for her, wishing there was a way for him to cheer her up like Cole.

After a short conversation, Anne and Cole hugged each other tightly and went their own separate ways. Gilbert tore his eyes off the window once he saw her get onto the train, and he turned to look at the entrance of the carriage, waiting for Anne to appear. When she did, their eyes locked briefly and she smiled weakly at him, making her way towards the empty seat next to him.

“Hi,” she breathed out as she sat down. 

“Hi there,” he replied. “How was your day?”

“Can you please tell me about yours first? I bet it was much more jovial than mine,” Anne pleaded, locking her eyes with Gilbert’s again.

Gilbert nodded. “It was alright. I couldn’t concentrate much, so most of today felt like a waste.”

“Are you still sad about Mary?” she asked in a caring tone. “It’s totally understandable, I was also thinking about her a lot today while on my mission. It made things so much harder to bear…”

“What things?” he asked carefully, fearing her next words. She could easily keep him in the dark and he had no right to be mad about it.

“I visited a graveyard today,” Anne said with no emotion. She dropped her gaze to the floor and stared at it. “I wanted to see my parents. I wanted to tell them how much they’re being missed even though I never had the honour to know them. That even though I don’t know what they were like, they will always have a special place in my heart. Then I realised that the only way Delphi can ever talk to her mother is to talk to a piece of stone, and isn’t that just heart-wrenching to think about? I think it’s just so unfair that some of us do not get the chance to know who made them.”

Gilbert, shocked by Anne’s choice to open up to him, wasn’t sure what to say at first, but after a few seconds of consideration, he went with: “Did you like it? Talking to your parents like that?”

He said it in the softest voice he found within himself. He knew it was a very sensitive topic to her, and he didn’t want to mess things up and make her even more upset.

Anne let out a long sigh and looked back up at Gilbert. Her eyes were filled with tiredness and sorrow. “There wasn’t one. My parents don’t have a resting place that’s been recorded by the church. I suppose nobody took it upon themselves to arrange them a proper burial since they had no living relatives apart from me. First my orphanage loses all the records they had about me, and now this. Do you think the world is against my mission? What if I am not destined to learn anything about my parents?”

Gilbert was in a loss for words. Anne was searching for her true origins, and it sounded like she had been very unlucky so far. His chest ached. He wanted to say something, but none of the words that came to his mind were enough to convey what he wanted them to. 

“Anne, I–,” he began without knowing how to continue. “I want to help you with your search,” he eventually said. He didn’t know what made him say it, but once it was out, he knew he meant those words with all his heart. “If you want, we can take the train to Charlottetown twice a week, and I can ask those that always take the boat to Nova Scotia if they know someone who might’ve known your parents.”

Anne blinked. “But that would make me too much of a burden to you.”

“You’re never a burden. I would be more than happy to help,” he replied. In fact, in that moment it felt as though helping Anne was the only thing that truly mattered to him. 

Anne stared at him for a couple seconds before she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, and Gilbert instantly responded to it. They stayed like that, Gilbert not caring about the awkward position his body was in thanks to the train seats. He gently stroked Anne’s back with his hand, a warm sensation filling his entire being. 

“Thank you, Gilbert,” Anne finally said after they broke the hug. “You are an amazing person. You really are.”

The way she said it was so sincere. Gilbert felt his chest tighten, and he couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his cheeks. 

They didn’t say much after that. Anne was yawning a lot, and her sentences were cut short because she kept losing her train of thought. Eventually Gilbert remained silent, too, and let her rest. There were other times when they could talk, and it was obvious her visit to the graveyard had drained her of all energy. 

To let her sleep, Gilbert moved his attention to the window and pretended to be interested in the landscapes. The truth was that he had seen all those trees and fields and houses so many times in his life that there really was nothing interesting about the view. He could tell exactly how long it would take to be back in Avonlea just by looking outside. It would be about 30 minutes until they were there.

As he looked outside and thought about what Anne had just confessed to him, he suddenly felt an extra weight on his shoulder. He turned to look, and his heart almost skipped a beat when he realised that Anne was resting her head on him. She looked so peaceful, her lips were slightly parted and a few strands of hair that had escaped her braids tickled Gilbert’s face as he looked down at the sight. Trying his best to not wake her up, he corrected his position slightly and glanced out the window again. He watched the quickly-changing sceneries, but in reality his mind was completely focused on the fact that Anne was fast asleep with her head on his shoulder, and he couldn’t even begin to describe how happy that made him.

He was so gone for that red-head and nothing could ever change that.

After about 30 minutes, Anne woke up when the train stopped moving. She quickly removed her head from Gilbert’s shoulder and looked alarmed.

“Oh no! I am so sorry for falling asleep like that,” she said in a rush. Her cheeks were turning slightly pink. “And on you, to top it off.”

Gilbert smiled fondly at her. “I don’t mind. You needed rest.”

“I promise to be a much better company the next time,” Anne said as they got up from their seats. “It was just that I barely slept last night because my imagination was miles away from where it was supposed to be, and I was so disappointed to meet another dead end today and–“

“Hey, hey,” Gilbert cut her off and she fell silent in an instant. They jumped off the train. “It’s okay. As I said, I didn’t mind. Did you know that you snore when you sleep?”

Anne’s eyes widened in terror and gaped at him. “Gilbert Blythe, I do not snore!” she exclaimed in a very high-pitched voice.

“You will have to take my word for it,” he teased with a laugh. 

She rolled her eyes, but her lips curled into a smile. This time it was a genuine one; it radiated that familiar warmth that Gilbert had learned to know. It made everything about Anne’s features shine, and it also warmed his heart to know he had played at least a small part in making that change.

“Anyway,” Anne began. “Thank you for everything, Gilbert. You have no idea how much this all means to me. You’re being too kind to me.”

“I hope you will learn more about your parents soon,” he responded. “It’s all I want.”

“Me too,” she breathed out.

There was a short silence in which they just stared at each other with small smiles on their faces. Gilbert couldn’t help but feel something had changed in their friendship, like this day has brought them closer together. 

“I’ll see you at school, then,” he said in a whisper, and it was a surprise Anne heard it since they were surrounded by others that had just gotten off the train, too.

“See you,” she responded in an equally silent voice, and after a moment of consideration, she turned around and walked towards Matthew that was waiting for her with in a carriage pulled by Belle.

If the beginning of his day couldn’t be counted as one of his top favourites, the end of it certainly could. He would do anything to help Anne find her true origins. She deserved to be happy.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that in the books, Anne's parents do have a grave. This is just what my head came up with and I didn't want to let this idea die because it doesn't go hand-in-hand with the book canon. I hope you don't mind <3
> 
> my tumblr - frosinn.tumblr if you want to follow me as I yell about Anne with an E daily :')


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